The medical care field has come to rely upon the use of complicated instruments for obtaining data and for treating physical ailments. With the aid of these instruments, medical procedures considered too complex a decade ago are now performed on a daily basis. In certain procedures, a number of instruments are used in combination to obtain the desired results. These instruments could be combined into a single "multi-function" instrument; however, combining functions is not practical in many situations due to compatibility, independence of operation, serviceability, complexity of operation, or the combination may simply be uneconomical. A manufacturer may produce a state-of-the-art instrument that performs a particular function but may not offer a complimenting instrument required for a particular procedure. If functions are combined and one function fails, the device may be rendered inoperative. As new and improved instruments are introduced, neither physician nor patient can afford to wait until a multi-function device is created that incorporates the new technology.
Whatever reason is given for not combining instruments, some medical procedures are adversely affected by the lack of such a device, particularly cardiac catheterization environments, electro physiological environments, cardiac resuscitation wards, ablation studies clinical settings, and the like. For instance, an electrocardiogram (ECG) may be used to provide a graphic recording of the electrical manifestations of the heart action obtained from sensing devices such as electrodes placed on the patient. Typically a multi-polar endocardial catheter is inserted into the patient for accurate pick-up of the electrical impulses. The ECG provides a means for monitoring the heart to explore the condition providing an instant indication of heart stoppage or a heart in ventricular fibrillation. Both circumstances require definitive therapy to restore the heart to normal operation.
One method for repairing the heart is by use of induced electrical shock. This may be in the form of a large shock to restart the heart, a plurality of smaller shocks to "pace" the heart, or an ablation to repair portions of the heart deemed to be the cause of an abnormality. Obviously, the length of time it takes to render corrective therapy can save a life. Even if all instruments involved in the procedure are compatible and use a common electrode such as the endocardial catheter, the physician must disconnect the catheter from one instrument and connect it to the device used for supportive therapy. If a body surface electrode is used in combination with or separate from the catheter, the physician will have to deal with connecting the various instruments to utilize the common electrode. If a defibrillator is required, the physician must disconnect the recorder and hook up the defibrillator. If a pacer is required, again the devices must be switched if the physician intends to use the catheter. If atrial or ventricular defibrillation is employed, again the physician may have to disconnect the electrode from one device and reconnect to another. Through all this switching, the physician is prone to improper connecting of the electrode resulting in an inverse of polarity causing improper output. To rectify this, the electrode would have to be reconnected to a proper polarity. It should be obvious that any switching or determining which instrument is connected to which catheter takes time, time which the patient can not afford.
A physician must take advantage of every instrument available and each instrument may utilize different connections. When one recorder is removed for service or replaced by an improved device having a slightly different isolating or connecting technique, the physician must spend time becoming familiar with the switching process before the device is made operational. To avoid this situation, patients may be coupled to all these instruments simultaneously which can add to the confusion making it difficult to trace the coupling origin.
The problems described above are typical of those encountered with instruments used in a cardiac catheterization environment, electro physiological environment, cardiac resuscitation ward, ablation studies, or the like clinical settings. Of all situations, it should be understood that a physician working in a clinical setting requires not only the latest in technology but also the ability to coordinate such technology. What has not been heretofore provided is a means for controlling key components of various instruments for the treatment of heart patients. As is described later in this specification, the need for such an instrument is not only a long felt need but one capable of saving lives. While efforts have been made toward resolving these problems, no satisfactory solution has heretofore been provided. It is, therefore, to the effective resolution of these problems that the instant invention is directed.